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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29396826">Pirates</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaforMonsters/pseuds/TeaforMonsters'>TeaforMonsters</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, M/M, Swearing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 09:14:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,062</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29396826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeaforMonsters/pseuds/TeaforMonsters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Where are my clothes?” Iruka said. “Raidou seemed to think you’d know.”<br/>“I threw them overboard,” Kakashi said. Iruka couldn’t really tell with the mask, but he felt certain Kakashi was grinning.<br/>“You… what?”<br/>“I threw them overboard,” Kakashi straightened. “They were hideous.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hatake Kakashi/Umino Iruka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>A Very Special KakaIru Exchange!</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Pirates</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/tmo/gifts">tmo</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The shouting from up on the main deck grew louder. In their third-class cabin, Iruka pulled Naruto against him as booted feet thundered below. Naruto tugged at the sleeve of Iruka’s haori.</p><p>“What’s happening?” he asked, his voice too loud. Iruka shushed him.</p><p>“Pirates,” he murmured. Naruto’s face lit up. Whatever gods might be listening, Iruka thought, save him from overly adventurous ten-year-old boys.</p><p>Down the hall, a door smashed against a wall. Iruka started pushing Naruto behind him.</p><p>“Not fun pirates,” he said. There was a dagger hidden in his sleeve, another strapped above his ankle and a third tucked into his obi at the small of his back. He gripped the hilt of the one in his sleeve. “Bad pirates.”</p><p>“We can fight them!” Naruto said. His face shone. “Dad was teaching me before…” Grief crossed his face like a spring storm, gone as soon as it appeared. “Before! I’m good at fighting!”</p><p>“I know,” Iruka said, not unkindly, as he pushed Naruto into a corner and stood squarely in front of him. “You can be my second. That means you have to stay back until I can’t fight any more, all right?”</p><p>That seemed to please Naruto. Which was good, Iruka thought, as the cabin door crashed open under a shattering kick.</p><p>The man framed in the doorway was taller than Iruka, but only by a little, with almond-shaped eyes. He wore a motley of kimono and western style clothing and carried a sword on his back. Iruka slid the dagger from his sleeve and levelled it at the man.</p><p>“We have nothing of value,” he said firmly. “Leave us alone.”</p><p>The man only glanced at him and instead peered at Naruto. Iruka cursed internally and leaned into his line of sight, but it was obviously too late. Even when he was being quiet – for once – Naruto was difficult to miss. The man leaned back out the door and called up the corridor:</p><p>“He’s here! Tell the Captain!”</p><p><em>Shit shit shit</em>, Iruka thought. <em>They know.</em> As someone further into the bowels of the ship gave a muffled reply, Iruka launched himself at the man. He managed to slice into the man’s shirt as the man threw himself out of the way and drew his sword in a graceful flurry. Iruka cursed internally again. <em>Too slow!</em></p><p>The man raised his sword but didn’t move to attack. He caught and held Iruka’s gaze.</p><p>“We only came for the boy,” he said. “Please don’t get in the way.”</p><p>Iruka snarled and lunged again. He swore he heard the man sigh as he dodged.</p><p>“He stays with me,” he said fiercely.</p><p>“I’m staying with Iruka!” Naruto yelled. He took a step forward. Iruka tried to hustle him back to corner, further from the man with the sword. Naruto peeked over his outstretched arm and glared at the man. “You’ve got <em>creepy eyes</em>!”</p><p>The man glanced back out the cabin door and back to Iruka. This time, it was the man who attacked, feinting right with his sword and punching Iruka in the jaw as he parried. Iruka stumbled against a bunk, only slightly, but it was enough. As Naruto shouted, the man got between him and Iruka. He rounded on Iruka, forcing him back toward the door. Iruka caught the flat of the man’s sword against the blade of dagger and pushed up. The man was strong, but Iruka was determined. He slid closer to the man, under his guard. Quickly, he reached behind his back with his free hand to grab his other dagger.</p><p>Something solid collided with his back. An arm wrapped around his torso, pinning the hand with the dagger, while a gloved hand grabbed his wrist. Iruka thrashed against the newcomer. Naruto roared and leapt forward.</p><p>“No!”</p><p>The man with sword swung around and grabbed Naruto by the neck of his kimono. Naruto swore and kicked until the man had to sheath his sword and use both hands to hold him still.</p><p>“Let him go!” Iruka thrashed again as Naruto screeched in incoherent fury. The hand squeezed his wrist until he dropped his dagger with a hiss.</p><p>“Who’s this?” a voice rumbled, apparently entertained, against his back. “I seem to recall telling you not to attack the passengers, Tenzo.”</p><p>The man – Tenzo – spared an unimpressed glance for the man restraining Iruka. He winced as Naruto kicked him in the upper thigh.</p><p>“He attacked me,” he said. He nodded at Iruka over the top of the squirming Naruto’s head. “The kid called him Iruka. We’ll have to bring him with us.”</p><p>The newcomer sighed. Their – his? – breath ruffled Iruka’s hair where it had come loose from its plait.</p><p>“Let Iruka go!” shouted Naruto. “Let <em>him go</em>!” He tried to bite Tenzo, who held him out at arm’s length.</p><p>“Fine,” the newcomer said. “I have some questions for him. Gai!” He shouted the last bit, leaning back toward the door and dragging Iruka off balance. A voice responded from further away, muffled to Iruka’s ears. Apparently, the newcomer heard it perfectly fine, because he called in return: “Bring me some rope and tell the crew to get ready to go.”</p><p>He exited the cabin, dragging Iruka with him. Behind them, Iruka could hear Naruto fighting Tenzo.</p><p>“What do you want with him?” he muttered.</p><p>The newcomer snorted. “I could ask you the same thing.”</p><p><em>What?</em> Before Iruka could ask anything else, another man appeared in front of them. He had a strong, square chin and laugh lines around his mouth. He raised a thick eyebrow at the newcomer.</p><p>“I thought we weren’t taking prisoners,” he said.</p><p>The newcomer wrestled Iruka’s hands behind his back and held out a hand. All Iruka could see of him was an arm clad in a black coat and a leather-gloved hand. The coat looked … military? Iruka felt suspicion rise in his gut. The man – <em>Gai</em>, Iruka thought – tossed the newcomer the rope as Tenzo drew level with them. He’d managed to tuck Naruto under one of his arms, though the boy continued to struggle and curse. Tenzo edged past them and continued to the main deck.</p><p>“Who taught the Prince such language?” Gai said to his back.</p><p>“Gai,” said the newcomer warningly. Gai winced.</p><p>With Iruka’s hands bound securely behind his back, the newcomer gripped his upper arm and hauled him toward the deck. His pace was quick and oddly light. Iruka staggered slightly as he struggled to keep up. Gai walked ahead of them, talking energetically.</p><p>“The lifeboats have been lowered,” he said. “All passengers accounted for and assembled on the main deck.</p><p>“Good.” Iruka glanced at the newcomer. An inch or so taller than him, with wild hair and the collar of his coat turned up. It was a military coat, made of fine black wool and embroidered with gold, similar to ones Iruka had seen worn by high-ranking naval officers. <em>Why does that seem familiar?</em> Iruka thought. He was certain he’d never seen this man before in his life.</p><p>The man glanced at him as Gai precede them up onto the main deck. He paused and turned to look fully at Iruka. The lower half of his face was hidden by a black cloth mask, his right eye covered with an eyepatch. He … smiled? Before hustling Iruka onto the deck.</p><p>In the daylight, Iruka could see the other passengers on the far side of the deck, huddled near the lifeboats with the crew. The ship’s captain stood, rigid, at the front of the huddle, glaring down the pirates as they hurried back onto their own ship. There didn’t seem to have been much violence: the captain and his crew were clearly the worse for wear, some of them sporting bruises and cuts, but no obvious serious injuries. A few of the other passengers muttered as the man pulled Iruka past them.</p><p>The pirates’ ship, Iruka could see, was a naval warship. <em>That can’t be right</em>, he thought. <em>Unless. Oh </em>shit<em>. </em>He glanced again at the man’s uniform coat, its insignia torn away and braid frayed, and up to the flag. A black flag, with the insignia of the royal household – stylised leaf and spiral – mockingly set between crossbones. Iruka’s gut felt full of ice. This was Hatake Kakashi, <em>friend killer</em>. Traitor to the Crown, who incinerated an entire naval fleet in harbour.</p><p>
  <em>Shit<strong>.</strong></em>
</p><p>Hatake, unaware or uncaring of Iruka’s sudden stiffness, paused as he drew level with the captain.</p><p>“Captain,” he said, giving a lazy salute. “Charges have been set below deck.” Panicked muttering rose from the passengers and one or two crew. Hatake ignored them. “You have twenty minutes to get everyone aboard the lifeboats and away from the ship before they detonate.” He cocked his head. “Or fifteen minutes. Probably best to make it fifteen.” He lifted his hand in another lazy salute, turned, and dragged Iruka across the gangplank to his ship. Shouts and scuffling broke out on the passenger ship behind them. The captain barked orders while a few of the more level-headed passengers and crew tried to calm everyone.</p><p>Iruka glared at Hatake. “You’re going to kill everyone on board to abduct one boy?”</p><p>“No one will die,” Hatake said calmly. He watched his own crew draw the gangplanks back aboard and trim the sails. Then, he unceremoniously shoved Iruka toward Gai. “Put him in my cabin, I need to talk to the kid.”</p><p> </p><p>Gai was surprisingly solicitous, for a pirate. He took Iruka by the arm and led him to Hatake’s cabin at the stern as though he were escorting him to a meal. Inside, Hatake’s cabin was handsome, albeit utilitarian: everything in it – a massive desk and chairs that sat either side of it; shelves that lined the walls; a narrow bunk tucked in a corner with a tea chest at its foot – was old but high quality. There was nothing unnecessary, and all the items appeared often used, but well cared for. <em>Naruto will be disappointed</em>, Iruka thought, <em>not a treasure chest in sight.</em> Gai settled him in the chair in front of the desk.</p><p>“The Captain will see you Shortly,” he said, his voice like a thunderclap. He strode from the cabin. Iruka heard him lock the door lock behind him.</p><p>He flexed his hands against his bonds. Apparently, Hatake hadn’t noticed the dagger still hidden in Iruka’s obi when he grabbed him. He smiled grimly as he carefully tugged it free and cut the rope.</p><p>Hands freed, he approached the cabin door and stood just inside. He had to find Naruto. What he’d do once he did – well, Iruka would make sure they weren’t separated, at least. He knew he had no chance against a ship full of pirates, but he could make things difficult for them. Perhaps the crew would be easier to take on without their leader.</p><p>The lock clicked and Iruka tensed as the door opened. He attacked as soon as Hatake stepped over the threshold, dagger flashing. Hatake’s arm came up defensively, with startling speed and struck Iruka’s wrist. Hatake used the momentum to twist Iruka’s arm up his back and slam him, face down, over the desk.</p><p>“<em>Fuck</em>!” Iruka coughed with the impact. He felt Hatake tighten his grip and swore again.</p><p>“I think I know where the Prince got his vocabulary,” Hatake said dryly. He settled his weight on Iruka’s back, pinning him. “Drop the knife. You’re more likely to stab yourself than me at this rate.”</p><p>“Get fucked,” Iruka snarled.</p><p>“You’re very sweet, but it’s hard to have a conversation when people keep trying to stab me.”</p><p>“Where’s Naruto?”</p><p>“You don’t need to know that.” Hatake’s tone took on a warning edge.</p><p>“Like hell I don’t!” Iruka threw his weight backward. He managed to lift his chest from the desk momentarily before Hatake shoved him back down. “What are you going to do with him? If you hurt him I’ll –“</p><p>Hatake laughed mirthlessly.</p><p>“Those are pretty words from the man who abducted him.”</p><p>“I didn’t – what?” Iruka stilled. “You abducted him! From the ship just now.”</p><p>Hatake snorted. “You said that before, is it a game? You convince the kid that you’re on his side?”</p><p>“I <em>am</em> on his side!” Iruka thrashed again, to no avail. “I <em>worked in </em>the palace when it was attacked.”</p><p>He felt Hatake shift slightly, though he didn’t let him up. The grip on his arm went from painful to uncomfortable.</p><p>“Let go of the knife,” Hatake said.</p><p>Iruka glared over his shoulder, as much as he could. He couldn’t see Hatake’s face. After a moment, he reluctantly let go of his dagger. He heard and felt Hatake pick it up and toss it across the cabin.</p><p>“Where were you taking the Prince?” Hatake said.</p><p>“Why should I tell you?” Iruka demanded. “You’re a pirate! You betrayed the Crown!”</p><p>For a long moment, they stood in silence. Eventually, Iruka felt Hatake move the arm not holding him. A scroll thumped onto the desk directly in front of his nose. It had the royal family insignia on its side.</p><p>“Where did you get –?”</p><p>“A week ago, Konoha was retaken by the house of Uzumaki-Namekazi,” Hatake said.</p><p>Iruka waited a moment. When Hatake said nothing more, he said, “Yes…? My contact said that the royalists – “</p><p>“Were you taking the Prince to Konoha?”</p><p>“To…?” Iruka shook his head. “No, my contact said that it was still too risky. The King and Queen are waiting in – “</p><p>He caught himself and nearly bit his tongue. This was a trick! Hatake didn’t know where Naruto’s parents had gone to ground.</p><p>“Waiting in?” Hatake prompted him. Iruka clenched his jaw and stared steadily at the wall opposite him. Hatake a low, breathy noise. “Do you not know?”</p><p>“I won’t tell you,” Iruka said.</p><p>“You weren’t headed for Konoha unless you were taking a terribly circuitous route. That ship was headed for the coast of Lightning Country.” He paused for another long moment. “The King and Queen are in Konoha.”</p><p>Iruka sucked in a breath. <em>Liar</em>! He flailed against Hatake’s hold once more. This time, Hatake let him up. He whirled around. Hatake stood barely an inch behind him, his posture indolent and his masked face inscrutable.</p><p>“That’s not true!” Iruka said. “It’s only been a week, there’s no way it’s safe enough for them to send for Naruto!”</p><p>Hatake gestured at the scroll on the desk. “Perhaps you’d like to see for yourself?”</p><p>“I don’t need to see a pirate’s forgery!”</p><p>Hatake made a frustrated sound.</p><p>“What do you plan to do?” he snapped. “Take the prince and jump overboard in the middle of the night? Perhaps you’re a real dolphin and can swim to Lightning Country from here.”</p><p>Iruka gritted his teeth.</p><p>“I want to see Naruto,” he said, finally. He glared stubbornly at Hatake. “I want to know he’s safe.”</p><p>Hatake gazed back at him, face unreadable, for an uncomfortably long time. Just as Iruka prepared to ask again, he took a half step back.</p><p>“Tenzo?” he said evenly, keep his stare locked with Iruka’s. The cabin door opened and Tenzo’s upper body leaned over the threshold. “Bring the prince in here, please.”</p><p>Tenzo nodded and disappeared. Hatake and Iruka continued to eye one another in silence until the door opened again. This time, Tenzo held Naruto by the hand, and Naruto wasn’t screaming. He was eating a peach. He let go of Tenzo’s hand in favour of grabbing Iruka’s haori sleeve with sticky fingers.</p><p>“It’s okay, Iruka,” he said brightly. “They know mum and dad!”</p><p>“We know mum and dad,” Hatake repeated solemnly. Iruka continued to glare at him.</p><p>“He’s seven – “</p><p>“Seven and a half!” Naruto protested.</p><p>“ – you could have easily tricked him.”</p><p>Naruto blew a loud raspberry. When Iruka glanced down at him, Naruto frowned, his lower lip jutting out grouchily.</p><p>“They had mum’s password thingy,” he said sternly. He rummaged in the neckline of his kimono and withdrew a fine gold chain, long enough to rest unseen among Naruto’s clothing. An exquisitely filigreed locket hung from the chain. Naruto flipped open to reveal a scrap of silk embroidered with a little red fox. On its forehead, a tiny spiral had been picked out in white thread. Naruto held it up for Iruka to see.</p><p>“Mum said don’t trust anyone who doesn’t have one like it,” he said. He grinned.</p><p>Iruka glanced at Hatake who folded by the cuff of his coat to reveal a little red fox embroidered into the lining.</p><p>“Naruto…” he said, voice hoarse. “I – I’ve never heard about your … password.”</p><p>Naruto just beamed at him. “Yeah, but mum gave you me!” He nodded as though this solved everything. “<em>I </em>have the password thingy.”</p><p>Iruka’s knees felt weak. He glanced at Hatake, who maybe-smiled from behind his mask, and back to Naruto, whose happy face was sticky with peach juice. Unthinkingly, Iruka pulled a handkerchief from his kimono sleeve and dabbed at it.</p><p>“Tenzo and Gai said they’d show me how to trim the sails!” Naruto said gleefully past Iruka’s ministrations. “They’re gonna let me look from the crow’s nest! You should climb up too, you can probably see all the way to Lightning from there!”</p><p>“Not quite that far,” Tenzo said from his spot near the door.</p><p>Hatake laid a hand on Iruka’s upper arm, not forcefully.</p><p>“Iruka and I need to talk some more,” he said to Naruto, “but we’ll be out in a minute.”</p><p>Naruto batted Iruka’s handkerchief away and bounded back to the cabin door. He paused to wave at them before he leapt out onto the deck, Tenzo in his wake. The door shut quietly behind them.</p><p>“I think I owe you an apology,” Iruka said faintly. He glanced at Hatake and frowned minutely. “Although I have to wonder why you didn’t just show Naruto that fox on the passenger ship.”</p><p>Hatake shrugged. “I have a reputation to maintain.” He slouched against the desk beside Iruka.</p><p>Iruka folded his arms. “Is that why you blew up the ship?”</p><p>“I didn’t blow up anything.”</p><p>“The charges in the passenger ship,” Iruka said. “You told them they had – “</p><p>“I’m a pirate. I lied.” Hatake raised an eyebrow at him. “Now what about you? You said you worked in the palace and have a contact?”</p><p>“I was Naruto’s tutor,” he gave a half-smile. “I suppose I still am.”</p><p>“And your contact?”</p><p>“Mizuki,” Iruka said. “One of the guards. Why would he tell me to take Naruto to Lightning Country if their Majesties aren’t waiting there?”</p><p>“I think your contact might be working for the enemy,” Hatake said. “Danzo’s faction have allies in Lightning who’d love to get their hands on Naruto.”</p><p>Iruka felt sick. “I can’t believe that – Why would – “ he pressed his knuckles to his lips.</p><p>“Hey,” Hatake looked startled. “Are you alright?”</p><p> </p><p>Five minutes later, Hatake patted Iruka’s back as he heaved over the side of the ship.</p><p>“I can’t believe I didn’t know,” Iruka mumbled, for what felt like the hundredth time. Hatake patted his back again and murmured some soothing nonsense.</p><p>“Is Iruka okay?” asked Naruto’s voice somewhere to Iruka’s left.</p><p>“He’s fine,” Hatake said cheerfully. “Just a bit seasick.”</p><p>“I know of a most Excellent Cure for seasickness!” Gai’s voice was no less booming when he wasn’t cross, Iruka noted. “All One needs is some Ginger and Warm Water!”</p><p>“Thank you,” Iruka said, pushing himself upright. “I’m all right now.” He turned to find Naruto sitting on Gai’s shoulders, grinning fit to crack his face in half and managed a smile of his own.</p><p> </p><p>It would take them at least five days to sail to the Port of Konoha, where the King and Queen waited. Hatake – Kakashi, he preferred to be called Kakashi, Iruka reminded himself, he refused to answer to anything else – had given Naruto his cabin and set up a pair of hammocks with the rest of the crew for himself and Iruka. Naruto had complained about not getting to sleep in a hammock too, at least until Genma told him in a stage whisper how much Gai snored.</p><p>Iruka had quickly noticed that he didn’t really know how to do anything useful and told Kakashi how superfluous he felt.</p><p>“You can mop a floor, can’t you?” Kakashi said.</p><p>Naruto spent his days shadowing the crew, selecting someone new to follow every day. Sometimes he’d change his mind every hour, but he seemed to like Tenzo and Kakashi best. Iruka would be jealous, but he supposed that it was more fun to follow the pirates than the cabin boy.</p><p>Two days after Iruka and Naruto had been brought aboard, Iruka rolled out of his hammock to find that his clothing wasn’t where he’d left it. The sea breeze was fresh, even below decks, and he shivered in just his nagajuban. He looked around the area where the crew slept – the only person not already above deck and going about their day was Raidou. Iruka squinted at him in the early morning light. He’d learned the morning before that the burn scars down the side of Raidou’s face extended below the collar of his gi and over his arm and shoulder. Every morning and evening, Raidou massaged oil into his scars and went through a series of careful stretches to keep them supple.</p><p>“Raidou?” Iruka said as Raidou pulled on his jacket. Raidou glanced at him over his shoulder. “Have you seen my clothes? I put them here last night.” He gestured at the empty spot. Raidou had a surprisingly sweet smile for someone so brutally scarred, Iruka thought.</p><p>“Ask the Captain,” he said.</p><p>Iruka looked down at himself, then back up at Raidou. He grabbed the blanket from his hammock and wrapped it around himself like a cloak.</p><p>“What are you hoping to hide?” Raidou called after him as he climbed onto the deck and marched to Kakashi’s cabin.</p><p>Inside, Kakashi leaned over a chart spread out on his desk. Iruka didn’t bother to knock. Kakashi glanced at him from the narrow gap between his coat collar and his unbound hair.</p><p>“Good morning, sensei,” he said. “Are you cold?”</p><p>“Where are my clothes?” Iruka said. “Raidou seemed to think you’d know.”</p><p>“I threw them overboard,” Kakashi said. Iruka couldn’t really tell with the mask, but he felt certain Kakashi was grinning.</p><p>“You… what?”</p><p>“I threw them overboard,” Kakashi straightened. “They were hideous.”</p><p>“What?” Iruka shook his head. “They were all I could afford – They were supposed to help us blend in!“</p><p>“Yes, you dressed the Prince in second-hand kimono as well,” Kakashi cocked his head. “I’m not saying it was a bad idea, but they were very unbecoming on you.”</p><p>“Unbecoming …?”</p><p>The bastard was definitely grinning, Iruka thought.</p><p>Kakashi nodded. “Grey. Not your colour at all.” He gestured vaguely at a neatly folded pile on his bunk. “Put those on instead.”</p><p>Iruka hesitated. “You didn’t throw away Naruto’s things, did you?”</p><p>“Of course not, I don’t have children’s clothing lying around.”</p><p>Having approached Kakashi’s bunk, Iruka picked up an emerald green kimono. He eyed it critically before he let his blanket fall to the floor.</p><p>“It’s … very nice, thank you,” he said as he slid it on. Kakashi had also given him another haori, this one black with handsome embroidery. “You just had these lying around?”</p><p>“I robbed a brothel once,” Kakashi told him cheerfully and fled the room when Iruka rounded on him.</p><p>Later, as Iruka lay in the dark in his hammock listening to the soft sound of waves against the hull, he took a deep breath and said:</p><p>“I appreciate the kimono, Kakashi, but if you ever throw anything of mine overboard again, I’m throwing you after it.”</p><p>“Mutiny from my cabin boy,” Kakashi muttered. “Would it help to know you’re much prettier than the prostitute I stole the clothes from?”</p><p>Iruka gritted his teeth. Whether it was in irritation or keep from laughing he wasn’t sure. “No. It would not.”</p><p> </p><p>On the fourth night, Iruka leaned against the side of the ship, watching the moon over the waves. Naruto had finally climbed the rigging to the crow’s nest and spent all day there beside Aoba or swinging from the rigging like a brightly coloured monkey. Occasionally his shouts of glee would float down to Iruka where he swabbed the deck. He’d clambered down in the late afternoon, exhausted and sunburned and bursting to tell Iruka about the whales they saw early in the afternoon. Naruto fell asleep in Iruka’s hammock shortly after he’d eaten and Iruka didn’t have the heart to move him. The breeze lifted the hair around Iruka’s face, cold against his skin but not unpleasantly so.</p><p><em>This is nice</em>, he thought.</p><p>A cut-glass tumbler nudged against his shoulder. He glanced up to find Kakashi leaning against the railing beside him, offering the glass. In his other hand, he held a matching tumbler and a crystal decanter of something dark golden.</p><p>“Whisky?” he said, eye crinkling at the corner.</p><p>Iruka took the tumbler from him. “Aren’t pirates supposed to drink rum?”</p><p>“Bilge water,” Kakashi said, unusually prim. “Have you seen what they make it from?”</p><p>He poured them each a healthy tot and carefully placed the decanter on the deck. Iruka sipped his whisky as Kakashi leaned on his elbows beside him. It had a fire that left his tongue pleasantly numb in its wake. He cleared his throat. Kakashi nodded at him approvingly. Iruka took another sip and saw Kakashi lower his mask with his free hand before drinking.</p><p>“Why do you wear that?” he asked. Kakashi glanced at him and gave a lopsided smile. It was disquietingly handsome. Iruka quickly looked back into his whisky glass.</p><p>“Because I’m too lovely for this world,” Kakashi told him seriously. “My enemies would fall at a glance and I would enslave kings. I can’t have that kind of responsibility.”</p><p>Iruka snorted. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” He drank again as Kakashi clutched his chest, looking stricken. “Why did you become a pirate, then?”</p><p>“To get laid.”</p><p>“No, really,” Iruka gestured at his coat and boots. “You were in the King’s navy, weren’t you? What happened?”</p><p>Kakashi gave another lopsided smile, clearly meant to be disarming. Iruka refused to fall for it. “Better pay.” At Iruka’s look his smile shrank, turned bitter at the edges. He looked out over the ocean and sipped again at his whisky. “You know about the factions in the royal house, don’t you? Off shoots of the main line jostling for position.”</p><p>Iruka nodded. “The eldest son of a former king’s … third wife? Danzo? You mentioned him.”</p><p>“He has – ha, <em>had</em>,” Kakashi almost looked satisfied, before he frowned again, “a hand in most of the national defence architecture. Including the navy.” He paused and had a long draught of his drink. “We cleared shipping routes from <em>trading partners</em>, gave safe passage to merchant ships that were so important to our economy. We helped claim land for the Crown. Do you know what those merchant ships, ours and our subjects, were carrying?”</p><p>Iruka shook his head. He didn’t want to say anything in case Kakashi stopped talking.</p><p>“We sent them narcotics that ruined their poorest classes. They sent back slaves.” He gulped his whisky. “We were murderers and thieves. Once you realise that, it’s hard not to wonder what the difference is between you and the pirates.”</p><p>“So … you mutinied?” Iruka said. He felt a crawling in the pit of his stomach. He’d grown up to believe that their military was full of noble people willing to sacrifice their lives for the greater good of their country. That there was corruption at the core of something he’d held so sacred, that he had <em>benefited</em> from so much suffering somehow… it left a bad taste in his mouth. He tried to chase it away with the whisky.</p><p>“I mutinied,” agreed Kakashi.</p><p>“And burned a fleet in harbour,” Iruka shook his head. “You couldn’t have reported that Danzo was part of the slave trade? Had him arrested?”</p><p>Kakashi laughed humourlessly. “I tried arranging the ships so they spelled out ‘the Commander’s a fuckwit’ before I burned them, but honestly it was hard enough getting everyone off first.”</p><p>“They … they were empty?”</p><p>“No one tells that part of the story, do they?” Kakashi swirled his empty glass, as though hoping to make more liquor appear. “Yes, the ships were empty. Of people anyway. I caused millions of <em>ryo</em> in damage, though. That’s the part that people care about.”</p><p>They stood in silence as Iruka finished his drink.</p><p>“The – the new King,” Iruka said haltingly. He felt treasonous even thinking it, but he had to know. “He isn’t – “</p><p>“No,” Kakashi said. “Minato reached out to me, after I mutinied. He didn’t believe any of it was necessary either.” He smiled, genuinely this time. “And if anyone ever suggests to Kushina that slavery and theft are justified I want to be there to watch what she does to them.”</p><p>“So, what <em>do</em> you do then, as a pirate?” Iruka said. The stories of a fearsome pirate who destroyed a naval fleet and a man who blithely told a passenger ship to evacuate over bombs that didn’t exist weren’t meshing in his head.</p><p>“Rescue princes and rob brothels.” Kakashi nodded at Iruka’s empty glass. “Another?”</p><p>Iruka held out his glass wordlessly as Kakashi retrieved the decanter from the deck. The moonlight picked out tiny flecks of silver in Kakashi’s hair.</p><p>“I don’t believe you about the brothel,” Iruka said.</p><p>“It’s true,” Kakashi insisted. “More or less.”</p><p>“Am I or am I not wearing the clothing of a prostitute, Kakashi?”</p><p>“You are,” Kakashi raised his hands with a grin. “But he donated them. A client bought them for him and he didn’t like the colour. The <em>owner</em> of the brothel thinks I robbed the place. All the workers got paid handsomely.” He caught Iruka’s eye. “And you are prettier than him.”</p><p>Iruka lowered his gaze to his hands.</p><p>“You’re … not bad either,” he said. “Though I doubt you could enslave a king.”</p><p>“But could I seduce a teacher?”</p><p>Iruka shrugged. “You’ll have to ask one. I’m a cabin boy.”</p><p> </p><p>On the fifth morning, Kakashi appeared out of nowhere while Iruka peeled potatoes in the galley and kissed him. His lips tasted of the ocean.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's a bit rushed at the end, and I'm sorry. It was getting too long to post within the time frame. Oops. I hope you like it, tmo!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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